The logic behind it is simple: people alike gather. Since the day where he and his pals gather with people like Yip Po-lam and Wong Ho-ming**, I lost all hope in the whole lot of them (those who were at the anti North-Eastern development protests would understand).

Therefore I have zero interest in Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS). However, I am interested to see how the HKFS fans think about the interview. So far, I have seen three types of responses:

A: a total change of attitude, from supporting the organisation to loathing it

B: concerned about the interview, and became neutral to the organisation; or

C (also the majority): strongly believing in the ‘righteousness’ of HKFS; the interview ended up boosting their confidence and trust in HKFS, and their support was turned to blinded admiration

All I can think of now is an excerpt of the stand-up comedy by Dayo Wong and Cheung Tat-Ming** (Setting: A and B chatting, with A complaining about B’s boyfriend).

A: ‘Hey girl, your boyfriend really has bad breath!”

B: “Well, everyone has a weakness or two!”

A: “It’s not really one or two though; we’re talking he smells all over, not just his mouth but armpits and feet too!”

B: “Well then, he’s pretty well-rounded!”

A: “He snores like a bear!”

B: “It’s because he was dreaming about me!”

A: “He pisses everywhere in the toilet!”

B: “Wow how macho!”

A: “He never washes his hands after a #2!”

B: “Since when does a guy wash his hands after going to the bathroom?”

A: “I do!”

B: “You really should man-up!”

A: “He swears a lot!”

B: “But he has a good heart!”

A: “But also…he smokes in a lift goddamnit!”

B: “Hold it right there! You can’t smoke in the public anymore, so he doesn’t have a choice but to smoke in a lift! Poor thing! Why can’t you be more tolerant?”

I don’t know what agenda Chow or HKFS has (to take part in Umbrella Revolution) – I don’t even want to know, it’s none of my business. But we can see how influential the mainstream media is from this case.

Be frank to yourselves: what drives such no-questions-asked allegiance to HKFS and Scholarism? Is it their courage, their wit, or are they some strategic marvels that no one has ever seen before? This is the power of the mainstream media: they can find a bunch of ordinary and ill-achieved political newbies and deliver them a die-hard fan group in a short period of time by subtly praising their every move and word in gossip-style news reports. They shape a nobody into a star, and through that the media play with people’s hearts and minds. This is, in my eyes, one of the most pathetic things about Hong Kong.

Let’s put it into perspective: if the claims were not made by Alex Chow, but legislator Albert Ho***, what would our HKFS fans say? If you can forgive the former but think the latter is a spineless politician, then sorry, you’re not a protester. You’re only participating in a fan group.

Editor’s Note:

*Yip and Wong are two controversial activists labelled as “leftards (Cantonese: 左膠)” for their allegations of undermining previous protests. Yip also caused controversies in 2012 with her support for cross-border smugglers

**Dayo Wong 黃子華 and Cheung Tat Ming are two prominent stand-up comedians/actors in the city. Wong is famous for his direct approach to current affairs in his performances

***Albert Ho was caught browsing soft pornography during a Legislative Council meeting in February 2014, hence has been made fun of ever since and lost his credibility